Life-guard.



No. 697,l22. Patented Apr. 8, 1902.

T. E.-C. WILSDN. LIFE GUARD.

(Application filed .Tune 18, 1901.)

(Ilo Model.)

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ATENT THOMAS E. C. lVILSON, OF LIVERPOOL, ENGLAND.

LlFE-GUARD.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent .No. 697,122, dated April 8, 1902.

i Application filed .Tune 18,1901. Serial No. 65,057. (No model.)

To (LZZ whont it may corwrn:

Be it known that I, THOMAS EDWARD COR- NEY WILSON, cotton-salesnan, a subject of the Kingof GreatBritain, residing at 16 Swiss road, Fairfield, Liverpool, in the County of Lancaster, England, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in or Relating to Life-Guards, of which the following is a specification.

This invention has relation to certain new and useful improvements in life-guards or fenders for tram-cars, motor-vehicles, and the like.

The object of this invention is to provide a mechanism which shall be simple and durable in Construction, easily operated, and capable of being manufactured at a slight cost.

It consists in certain constructious, combinations, and arrangement of parts, as will be hereinafter fully described in the specication, illustrated in the drawings, and pointed out in the claims.

While I have herein shown my improved style of fender or guard, it Will of course be understood that there can be modifications in the minor details of construction and the relative arrangement of parts without departing from the spirit of the invention or sacrificing any of the advantages of the same.

Referring now to the drawings, wherein I have illustrated my improvements, Figure 1 is a side elevation showing my improvements applied to a tram-car and illustrating the manner in which the guard is automatically released when it strikes an obstruction. Fig. 2 is a detail view, partly in section, of the automatic release mechanism shown in Fig. 1. Fig. 3 is a side elevation of a fender or guard, showing the side shields in position.

Like letters and numerals in the various figures of the drawings indicate corresponding parts.

My invention is generally applied to the ends of a tram-car or similar vehicle in such manner that when an emergency occurs and the occasion requires the guard may be quickly and positively brought into position to quickly and efeotively clear obstructions from the track and catch up anything that may be in the path of the car.

Turning now to the drawings, and especially to Fig. 1, A indicates a guard which may be of any well-known and desired form and is fastened to the body of the car in a convenient manner. The said guard is fulcrumed at its side a little forward of its rear edge, as at 1, the forward end of the said guard being sufficiently heavy to tend to drop upon the track. Upon the rear end of the guard, between rearwardly-projecting lugs 2 thereof, is journaled a transversely-arranged shaft M. At each end of this shaftMare downwardly-extending arms N, their lower ends being arranged opposite to the rear ends of the yoke L, which is carried by the guard A. The yoke L extends through bearings in the side of the guard A and is provided with a trans-` Verse roller K, extending across the front of the said guard. When the yoke L is forced rearwardly in its bearings, its rear ends will contact with the arms N and rock the shaft M in its bearings. The said shaft M also carries a lever O, which extends above and below the same. Interposed between the lever O and the rear part of the guard A is a spring Q, which tends to rock the shaft M, so as to draw the arms N toward the yoke L. The upper end of the lever O is adapted to engage a projection on the bottom of the guard and when so engaging the same will hold the rear end of the guard A in its lowered position, thus lifting the forward edge from the track.

It Will be apparent from this structure that when an obstacle on the track engages the roller K and forces the yoke L rearwardly in its bearings that the shaft M will be rocked by the arms N against the action of the spring Q, so as to cause the lever O to slip to one side of the projection P and permit the "rear end of the guard to rise and the forward end thereof to drop on the track. The rear end of the guard may be forced downwardly again, so as to permit the lever O to engage the projection P by a lever 3, fulcrumed beneath the platform and operated by a handle 4, extending above the platform of the car.

If desired, side guards of any suitable character, such as illustrated, may be provided to prevent any possibility of a body getting under the wheels should it come in contact with the side of the car, the guards of course tending to thrust the body aside.

I declare that what I claim is- 1. A life-guard for vehicles, comprising a IOO frame pivoted to the v'ehiele, a shaft journaled on the f'ame to the remof its fulcrum, a spring-actuated lever carried by the shaft for engaging a projection on the vehicle, an arm depending from the shaft, and means extending to the front of the frane for engaging said arm and releasing the lever When an obstruction is struck by the guard, substantially as described.

2. A life-guard forvehicles, comprising a. frame pivoted to the vehicie, a shaft journaled on the rear end of the frame to the rear of the fulcrum-point the'eof, a spring-actuated lever carried by said shaft for engaging a projection on the vehicle, an arm for rotating the said shaft, a yoke mounted in bear- Witnesses:

G. C. DYMOND, F. P. EVANs. 

